TV and Movies

[Oznell]

5:45 p.m. Eastern-- "The Manchurian Candidate" Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh

Explosive political thriller in which a previously captured member of the U.S. military (Harvey) is learned to have been programmed as an assassin by the Soviets and Communist China.

Notable for compelling performances, including Harvey, and Sinatra as Harvey's fellow soldier, who frantically tries to free his colleague from his deadly compulsion.  Janet Leigh has a nice, sympathetic role, but the supporting power house in this is of course Angela Lansbury, Oscar-nominated as Harvey's lethally scheming, hideously warped, political  mother.  Wowsa.

A chilling and lingering film.

[StylishLady]

Scary movie. One of Frank Sinatra's best. Angela was really creepy. 

[kaydee50]

An intriguing movie that took me a couple of viewings to appreciate.  Angela is terrific.

[Witchy Woman]

@StylishLady 

@Oznell 

@kaydee50 

Ditto on Angela being seriously creepy and scary.

I watched parts of Gaslight the other night and she's pretty creepy as the maid in that movie, too!

Those sweet-faced women make the best villans!

[drizzellla]

I will never forget an interview I saw with Angela Lansbury. And she talked quite a bit about The Mancurian Candidate. She said she could never get over the fact that she was not quite 3 years older than Laurence Harvey and yet she played his mother.

[Oznell]

That's right, now that you mention it, @drizzellla, they always seemed to want her to play roles much older than her real age, interesting.

I wonder if it partly might be because she radiates a certain "authority",  as a personality,  and did even when she was very young...

[drizzellla]

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@Oznell wrote:

That's right, now that you mention it, @drizzellla, they always seemed to want her to play roles much older than her real age, interesting.

I wonder if it partly might be because she radiates a certain "authority",  as a personality,  and did even when she was very young...

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Excellent point. Just look at Angela Lansbury in her first role in movies. She came across confident and self assured and she seemed to intimidate Ingrid Bergman.

[kaydee50]

@drizzellla  Well, I think she was "intimidating" IB's character, Paula, not IB herself who, IMO, gave one great performance in Gaslight.

[drizzellla]

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@kaydee50 wrote:

@drizzellla  Well, I think she was "intimidating" IB's character, Paula, not IB herself who, IMO, gave one great performance in Gaslight.

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Yes, I was talking about Angela Lansbury's first role in the movies. 

[Pearlee]

I've seen this film many times over the years, and I've never really liked it.